I love Anna-Marie Ravitzki’s essay, especially written for our book’s Gaza chapter. Here’s an excerpt:
“…When I was all grown up, I went looking for angels in Gaza. I met the dervishes. I do not forget the sound of their reed flutes and their stories of love for Rumi… The dervish looked like a god and had the eyes of Apollo, the kind that can see far into the distance.
…
“The dervish in Gaza served me fruit, the skies were clear. There was a tenderness in his hands. He spoke of God and my body breathed. In Gaza, I experienced a dervish angel with eyes so blue that all of the world’s goodness melted into his eyeball, falafel street stands, and the big blue sky. Today I freeze with shame whenever bad words are linked to this place.
…
“Both you and I have already eaten from the forbidden fruit and are now in dialogue where each of us grants the other this ethical claim for the right to exist, to equality, and to love.”